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Mini Pavlova without creme

The talk on the street is that the Pavlova was developed after a chef at a New Zealand hotel in Wellington, created the dessert for the famed ballerina Anna Pavlova, during her only tour of the city.

Then again, rumor has it that the Pavlova dessert had origins in Australia well before the New Zealands presented theirs. As with most delectable desserts, there is controversy and rivalry over who claimed it first. 

As an American, I am thrilled to have the Pavlova reach the states as an elegant and delicious dessert savored most for holidays. I would recommend mastering the French meringue. When you do, you find a whole new world of extremely diverse desserts. You can make meringue cookies, French Macaron cookies, pavlova creme cake, mini pavlovas, and meringue pies.

This pavlova recipe uses French meringue sculpted into elegant nests and filled with delectable cherries. A fabulous, gluten-free dessert that is sure to be a new family favorite.

Recipes for French meringue will call for caster sugar, old egg whites, and cream of tartar. Let’s talk about the ingredients for a moment.

Caster sugar is a specialty sugar that basically is really- fine, granulated sugar. You can skip buying it and make your own by pulsing your sugar a few times in a food processor. The consistency should be between granulated and powdered sugar. A few pulses should get you there. If you would prefer to buy Caster sugar, you can find it here. 

Using old egg whites will really give you the best meringue. So, how do you get old egg whites? If you have a recipe that calls for yolks only, our biscotti recipe, or something like homemade lemon curd, separate the whites into a freezable container.

They keep forever and then will have them when you need them. Remember to mark how many are in there. Bring the whites to room temperature and use them in your pavlova recipe.

Cream of tartar is an organic acid and a good ingredient to have on hand. If you don’t have any cream of tartar, you can order it here, or you can substitute equal amounts of lemon juice, and white vinegar, but I would be careful because they could change the flavor of your pavlova.

The acidity in the cream of tartar will give stability to the meringue allowing the air whipped into the moist egg whites to stay in place and stay stiff. Weeping meringue is caused by the lack of cream of tartar or too much humidity in the air. 

This pavlova recipe uses cream of tartar to allow us to pipe the meringue into beautiful nests, so we can fill them.

Typically you will find recipes for pavlova with creme filling and topped with berries or other fruits. This recipe is not using a creme filling. We are going to use a gluten-free fruit preserve that we will heat and fill the nests just before serving.

Mini Pavlova Recipe

Ingredients

2 large egg whites (room temperature)

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ cup + 1 TBSP fine-granulated sugar or caster sugar (see notes above about the fine-granulated sugar)

¾ cup of Bonne Maman fruit preserves (I used the cherry ones)

Directions to make Mini Pavlova

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Fit a 16” pastry bag with a  2D decorating tip

3. Using a heavy-duty stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they just start to foam.

4. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed.

5. Add 2 TBSP of sugar a little at a time until soft peaks form when the beater is turned off and raised a bit.

6. Add 1TBSP of sugar and increase the speed to high, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.

7. At this point, add the rest of the sugar a little at a time and beat until really stiff peaks form and the egg whites shine.

8. Fill the pastry bag fitted with the 2D decorating tip with the white egg white mixture.

9. Grease an 11x15 inch cookie/jelly roll pan and line it with parchment paper.

10. Holding the bag perpendicular to the cookie sheet, squeeze the pastry bag to the count of three to form a base of the nest. 

11. Then continue to outline that base three rotations. You should see a hole in the middle of the nest, which we will fill after they are baked. You will get about 6 nests.  

12. Any remaining whites can be piped off to the side of the cookie sheet to cook and use as a garnish.

13. Bake for an hour and ½.

14. Then turn the oven off and leave the nests in the oven for about another hour.

15. Take the cookie sheet out and let the nests continue to completely cool.

16. Just before serving, spoon ¾ cup of Bonne Maman fruit preserves into a microwave-safe bowl.

17. Heat for 1 minute 30 seconds on high, or until the preserves are liquidy.

18. Spoon enough preserves into each nest just to the rim.

19. Crush any extra meringues cooked from the left-over meringue batter, and sprinkle over each nest.

20. Enjoy a luscious, gluten-free dessert if you used the Bonne Maman preserves.